OR Tambo International Airport declared safe after bomb threat hoax
The OR Tambo International Airport has been declared safe after a suspected bomb threat earlier on Wednesday led to people being evacuated as a precautionary measure at the domestic arrivals section of the airport.
Police sources told the publication on Wednesday that a bomb threat was reported, and along with private security, a thorough sweep was conducted at the airport.
This led to the evacuation, but after thorough sweeping, police had since concluded the bomb threat was a hoax and had declared the airport safe again.
Gauteng police directed queries to national headquarters in Pretoria as the airport was a national key point.
A spokesperson for the police could not be reached, but a statement was expected to follow.
The OR Tambo International Airport later tweeted that the airport had been declared safe.
“The airport has been declared safe by the security cluster. The airport is operating normally. All domestic arrival flights are currently disembarking. We apologize for the inconvenience caused,” the OR Tambo Airport said in a tweet at 8 pm.
UPDATE: The Airport has been declared safe by the Security Cluster. pic.twitter.com/uG3sXorv8D
— ORTambo (@ortambo_int) May 31, 2023
Earlier, Acsa said the evacuation was a precautionary measure while police investigated.
“We do profusely apologize for the inconvenience caused,” said Acsa in a tweet on Wednesday.
Acsa’s communications specialist Samukelo Khambule said she was still in a meeting when contacted by the publication around 7 pm. She said she would be releasing a statement soon.
She did not answer calls when prompted. Khambula would only respond via text asking to be texted but failed to answer any of the texts sent to her.
-IOL
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